Latest news with #KoonenberryGold
News.com.au
30-06-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Resources Top 5: Institutional investors attracted to Koonenberry's golden success
A string of broad, high-grade results from the Enmore gold project is putting Koonenberry Gold in the spotlight DY6 has identified further visible natural rutile at the Central Rutile project in Cameroon Lodestar Minerals is boosting its coffers with a two-tranche placement for $2.2 million Your standout small cap resources stocks for Monday, June 30, 2025 Koonenberry Gold (ASX:KNB) A string of broad, high-grade gold results from the Enmore project in the New England region of northeast NSW is putting Koonenberry Gold in the spotlight and attracting institutional shareholders, including Lowell Resources Fund (ASX:LRT) and Lion Selection Group (ASX:LSX). The latter has increased its ownership of Koonenberry to 9.2% after purchasing an additional 25 million shares from Datt Capital Pty Ltd off-market for 3c per share. This show of confidence by the prominent resources sector investor has seen KNB shares reach 4.1c, a lift of 28.13% on the previous close with 102m shares changing hands. Enmore, near Armidale, has been drill tested historically but Koonenberry is drilling an adjacent target area which has so far shown to be materially better mineralised than the historic results. The new target area is a sheared granite host rock, where Koonenberry has recorded high tenor gold drilling intersections such as 172.9m at 2.07g/t Au from 171m. Drilling results are from a small footprint area to date and demonstrate a thick mineralised and altered zone which contains intervals of high-grade gold. This represents a small portion of a target area that strikes for 2km as defined by new surface geochemistry results. Underpinning its growing investment in KNB, Lion said, was the large and mostly untested search space at Enmore with hallmarks of a potentially large gold system. Lion rarely invests at the pure exploration stage and said this was because of the risks associated with such early-stage ventures. It said exceptions may only be made when the opportunity featured highly capable management and contained multiple opportunities to make discoveries, which strongly underpinned its investment in Koonenberry. 'The Koonenberry board and management have shown deep conviction for a new target underpinned by high quality technical work to acquire Enmore and make the discovery which is now underway,' Lion said. 'In addition to Enmore, Koonenberry has a portfolio of 100%-owned and joint venture projects across NSW that provide ongoing exposure to further discoveries.' The shares purchased from Datt by Lion are subject to a voluntary escrow expiring on 28 November 28, 2025. The Koonenberry board has approved a transfer of the block of shares with the escrow to remain in place. Lion managing director Hedley Widdup said: 'Koonenberry has progressed to become a key holding for Lion, providing exposure to an in-progress discovery that has strong hallmarks of scale and quality. "This latest purchase has been done at a price which is very attractive compared with the upside that we think remains both at Enmore and across Koonenberry's portfolio.' Melbourne's Datt Capital amassed a substantial stake in the company but then called for board and governance changes. The issue was resolved and Koonenberry appointed Datt appointee Tony Gu to the board. However, Gu resigned only three weeks later and Datt sold the bulk of its shares, now exiting its position entirely. Koonenberry was also flung into the spotlight by our columnist Kristie Batten in her Monday column. Check it out here. DY6 Metals (ASX:DY6) Rutile is a much sought after critical mineral being the rarest, highest grade and most valuable source of titanium, which is used in the aerospace, automotive, medical and industrial sectors. One of a number of ASX-listed juniors, including Sovereign Metals (ASX:SVM) and Peak Minerals (ASX:PUA), seeking to build up and exploit rutile resources in central Africa is DY6 Metals. At the Central Rutile project within the Bounde licence in Cameroon, DY6 has identified further visible natural rutile in alluvial and eluvial sources and shares have reached 3.4c, an increase of 20% on the previous close. Reconnaissance sampling has identified a new area of around 100km2 with large residual natural rutile nuggets ranging in size from 2cm to more than 4cm, heavy minerals and residual rutile mineralisation. The sampling program consisted of some auger drilling and the collection of channel, surface grab and stream sediment samples. Samples have been submitted for laboratory analysis in Cape Town, South Africa, with results expected in the September quarter. The identification of rutile across the entire tenement package is highly encouraging for DY6, as it confirms that this region is an emerging, globally significant rutile province. 'The reconnaissance program has been a great success, having identified visual HM and rutile mineralisation across each licence,' technical consultant Cliff Fitzhenry said. 'What we have uncovered at the Bounde licence is particularly exciting. I have never seen rutile nuggets of this size before.' Exploration will now move to the next phase with a systematic regional soil sampling program seeking to rapidly identify areas of higher-grade residual rutile mineralisation. Lodestar Minerals (ASX:LSR) With a two-tranche placement to bolster its coffers by $2.2 million, Lodestar Minerals more than doubled to 1.3c before closing at 1.1c Funds raised will be used to advance existing exploration programs in Chile, to assess new opportunities and for working capital. The company has appointed Oakley Capital Partners as lead manager and corporate advisor for the two-tranche capital raising. The first tranche will comprise the issue of 79,166,667 shares at 0.6c per share to raise $475,000 before costs in line with the company's available Listing Rule 7.1 and 7.1A capacities. Shares will be issued to sophisticated and professional investor clients of Oakley. The second tranche will be subject to shareholder approval at a general meeting. This will comprise the issue of 345m shares at 0.5c per share to raise $1,725,000 before costs. This will also be made to sophisticated and professional investor clients of Oakley. 'We are delighted to have secured the support of Oakley Capital Partners for this capital raising. The strong level of interest and demand reflects renewed confidence in Lodestar's strategic direction and growth potential,' Lodestar chairman Ross Taylor said. "This successful recapitalisation marks a pivotal moment in the company's evolution and positions us to advance our exploration and development ambitions with renewed strength. 'We welcome Oakley Capital Partners as a key partner and thank them for their belief in the Lodestar team and our vision. 'The successful raising of a significant amount of capital reflects the strong demand and investor confidence in the company's direction and future potential.' Megado Minerals (ASX:MEG) (Up on no news) Reaching a 12-month high of 2.4c, a 41.18% increase on the previous close, was Megado Minerals, which earlier in June completed the acquisition of 80% of Iberian Copper Pty Ltd, which owns 100% of the Iberian copper project in Spain. The Iberian Copper Project in Aragón and Navarra consists of 12 permits (under application) covering 956km2 of historically copper and silver producing strata along about 200km. Megado aims to undertake a maiden drilling campaign in Q4 2025 and to support this, an in-country team is completing extensive geological mapping in preparation for airborne geophysics. The airborne program to be flown in Q3 is expected to confirm high-priority targets for drilling. In addition, the company has signed an agreement with the University of Aragón to support its exploration. The university has substantial intellectual capital invested in the region and has identified multiple opportunities for the company's consideration. 'This is an exciting milestone for the company. We now have a massive opportunity with full control of an entire copper and silver belt hosting multiple historic mines,' Megado chairman Anthony Hall said. 'Importantly, we have also secured a very capable in-country operating team that has a track record of success. We are already starting to see this with early geological mapping and our agreement with the University of Aragón.' Astute Metals (ASX:ASE) Nevada has been a star performer in US resources exploration and extraction for many years and always figures prominently in the Fraser Institute's annual mining investment attractiveness index. One ASX junior taking steps to join Nevada's honour role is Astute Metals which has used a review of historical data and newly-acquired ASTER imagery to identify four high-priority gold-silver targets at its Needles project, prompting an 18.75% increase in shares to 1.9c. Providing the company with confidence of future success at Needles is the project's geological similarities to bulk-tonnage gold operations in Nevada such as the 20Moz+ Round Mountain mine and AngloGold Ashanti's recent 16Moz+ Silicon-Merlin discovery. The underexplored project also hosts numerous historical gold-silver workings from the early 1900s to 1920s and has previously returned rock chip results of up to 33g/t gold and 1115g/t silver. Silicon-Merlin was discovered through exploration drilling beneath the alteration cap of an epithermal deposit, which indicates there's discovery potential in drilling the deeper parts of epithermal systems and a pathway to value creation. Astute Metals will now carry out systematic soil sampling and magnetic surveys, ahead of initial drilling planned for Q3 2025. Work at Needles will be conducted in tandem with the company's drilling program at the nearby Red Mountain lithium project, leveraging cost and management synergies.
The Australian
23-06-2025
- Business
- The Australian
KNB eyes bulk tonnage potential at Enmore gold project
Koonenberry hits a thick intersection of gold in sixth hole of drilling at Enmore project, NSW Company says results both confirm continuity and increase confidence Koonenberry planning +10,000m further drilling to expand mineralisation, which remains open up and down dip and along strike to the northeast and southwest. Special Report: Koonenberry Gold has extended mineralisation at the Sunnyside prospect within the Enmore project in NSW, hitting 80.5m at 1.45g/t gold in the sixth hole of drilling. The 302km2 Enmore project is within the underexplored New England Gold Belt, which hosts the 1.7Moz gold-antimony Hillgrove mine, the 8Moz Ravenswood gold mine, the 7.7Moz and 0.36Mt copper Mt Morgan mine and the 2.5Moz Cracow gold mine. Notable hits from Koonenberry's previous holes at Enmore's Sunnyside prospect include 18.3m at 9.95g/t gold in hole 1, 5m at 11.09g/t gold in hole 2 and 2m at 13.52g/t gold from hole 4. The sixth hole at the project has now returned 80.5m at 1.45g/t gold, extending mineralisation by about 40m. With gold prices sitting above A$5000/oz and this continuation of mineralisation, the company believes the project is shaping up to be a big system with the potential for bulk tonnage and good grades. 'This is an exceptional result from our sixth drill hole at Sunnyside where we continue to demonstrate the potential for bulk tonnage and high-grade gold,' Koonenberry Gold (ASX:KNB) managing director Dan Power said. 'Hole 25END006 is around 40m along strike to the SW from Hole 25ENDD003 which returned remarkably similar true widths and gold grades perpendicular to the first order shear zone. 'This indicates good continuity of mineralisation between sections.' Results from hole 7 – which contained visible gold – along with assays from holes 8-10, are expected early in Q3. +10,000m of drilling planned The company is well funded to continue exploration across its projects with more than 10,000m planned drilling at Enmore, backed by $10.35m cash in the bank. 'Koonenberry Gold awaits results from a further four drillholes from our inaugural drill program at Sunnyside,' Power said. 'Assays from hole 25ENDD007, which also returned visible gold, are anticipated in late early July. 'The remaining holes will be reported as they are received early in Q3 CY2025.' Power said the next phase of drilling is scheduled to commence in August, weather permitting, and 'will be focused on infill and extensional drilling as well as discovery and growth.' 'Koonenberry Gold is extremely encouraged by the success of its first drill program at Enmore and the developing discovery story,' he said. In addition to the Sunnyside drilling, results from Koonenberry's ongoing soil program will also be used to plan drilling at other prospects in the district. This article was developed in collaboration with Koonenberry Gold, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing. This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Koonenberry Gold Insiders Land Bargain With Gains Of AU$2.1m
Insiders who purchased Koonenberry Gold Limited (ASX:KNB) shares in the past 12 months are unlikely to be deeply impacted by the stock's 32% decline over the past week. Even after accounting for the recent loss, the AU$7.30m worth of stock purchased by them is now worth AU$9.38m or in other words, their investment continues to give good returns. While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares. This technology could replace computers: discover the 20 stocks are working to make quantum computing a reality. In fact, the recent purchase by Emanuel Datt was the biggest purchase of Koonenberry Gold shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at above the current price of AU$0.062. It's very possible they regret the purchase, but it's more likely they are bullish about the company. In our view, the price an insider pays for shares is very important. Generally speaking, it catches our eye when insiders have purchased shares at above current prices, as it suggests they believed the shares were worth buying, even at a higher price. Koonenberry Gold insiders may have bought shares in the last year, but they didn't sell any. Their average price was about AU$0.048. It is certainly positive to see that insiders have invested their own money in the company. However, you should keep in mind that they bought when the share price was meaningfully below today's levels. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below! See our latest analysis for Koonenberry Gold There are always plenty of stocks that insiders are buying. If investing in lesser known companies is your style, you could take a look at this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them). Over the last quarter, Koonenberry Gold insiders have spent a meaningful amount on shares. insider Emanuel Datt spent AU$6.5m on stock, and there wasn't any selling. This makes one think the business has some good points. For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Koonenberry Gold insiders own about AU$15m worth of shares. That equates to 26% of the company. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders. The recent insider purchase is heartening. And the longer term insider transactions also give us confidence. But we don't feel the same about the fact the company is making losses. When combined with notable insider ownership, these factors suggest Koonenberry Gold insiders are well aligned, and that they may think the share price is too low. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. Be aware that Koonenberry Gold is showing 5 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 4 of those don't sit too well with us... Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies. For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
News.com.au
14-05-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Five explorers leveraged to drilling success as microcaps offer big upside
As gold prices rise, exploration success is driving microcaps to massive gains At the small end of the market a rerate can be just one hole away These five juniors have drilling programs on the go All it takes is one drill hole to drastically change the fortunes of even the tiniest explorer. Just over six months ago, New South Wales explorer Koonenberry Gold (ASX:KNB) had a market capitalisation of well below $5 million. A series of wide gold hits at the Enmore gold project's Sunnyside prospect has transformed the former microcap into one of the best performing stocks this year. The first and second holes at Sunnyside returned 170m at 1.75 grams per tonne gold from 77m, including 18m at 9.95g/t gold and 172.9m at 2.07g/t gold respectively. The hits have kept on coming for Koonenberry, which now has a market cap of more than $75 million, with the company reporting on Tuesday that visible gold had been encountered in seven of the first nine holes. Results from the fourth and fifth holes are expected later this month, with the sixth expected next month. OzAurum Resources (ASX:OZM) started the year with a market cap of less than $5 million, but at the start of February, its shares surged more than five-fold off the back of a high-grade gold discovery at the Mulgabbie North project in Western Australia's Eastern Goldfields. Initial results included 20m at 3.57g/t gold from surface, including 10.21g/t gold, and 10m at 6.59g/t gold from 12m, including 4m at 14.17g/t gold. The company has continued to build on the results since then and while its share price has eased from February highs, it's still up more than 150% year-to-date. We've identified a few more microcap explorers which are actively drilling right now. Asra Minerals (ASX:ASR) On Monday, Asra kicked off a 1300m drilling program at its Leonora South gold project in WA, close to tenements owned by growing mid-tier producer Genesis Minerals. The program, comprising 1000m of RC and 300m of diamond tail drilling, will target down-dip extensions of the high-grade Orion and Sapphire deposits. The company will follow up high-grade results from October last year, including 1m at 47.95g/t gold from 115.2m and 1m at 23.12g/t gold from 148.7m at Sapphire, and 0.8m at 23.97g/t gold from 161.2m at Orion. Asra, which has a market cap of just $6.7 million, expects the first assays in the next 6-8 weeks. Codrus Minerals (ASX:CDR) The $6.6 million capped Codrus will fire up the rig any day now after being granted a long-awaited drilling permit for its Bull Run gold project in Oregon. The project, briefly a producer in the 1930s, has only ever had three shallow holes drilled into it, but has returned rock chip results of up to 1040g/t gold. 'There (are) some pretty outrageous grades there, so it's really low-hanging fruit just crying out to be drilled,' Codrus executive chairman Greg Bandy told Stockhead earlier this week. Induced polarisation surveying has identified multiple anomalies, while more recent rock chipping returned grades of up to 60g/t gold, 1.5% copper and 2.5% molybdenum. Codrus is permitted for up to 14,000m of drilling, which is expected to cover multiple programs. Miramar Resources (ASX:M2R) Miramar is in the process of an 11,000m aircore program at its Gidji gold project, just 15km north of Kalgoorlie, which represents the first drilling there for three years. The company has described the 80%-owned project as 'the cheapest house in the best street', sitting right next door to Northern Star Resources' (ASX:NST) 313,000oz 8 Mile Dam deposit. Early results include a best hit of 1m at 4.45g/t gold, with drilling to date increasing the footprint of the high-priority Blackfriars target. The company says it shares several similarities to the multi-million-ounce Paddington gold deposit along strike to the north. Results are expected to flow through between now and July. With a market cap of just $3 million, Miramar is highly leveraged to success at Gidji. GreenTech Metals (ASX:GRE) The stage two diamond drilling program at GreenTech's Whundo copper-zinc project in the West Pilbara is progressing. The first two holes of the program returned a best result of 7.14m at 1.46% copper, 1.23% zinc and 0.08g/t gold from 277.16m, including 6.3m at 1.84% copper, 1.4% zinc and 0.08g/t gold from 278m. Whundo has an existing resource of 6.2 million tonnes at 1.12% copper and 1.04% zinc. The project sits on a granted mining lease and GreenTech has flagged the potential to process ore through Anax Metals' nearby Whim Creek plant or Artemis Resources' Radio Hill plant. GreenTech has success in its DNA via the recent appointment of Julian Hanna as MD, the exploration expert responsible for the early progress of Western Areas and MOD Resources. Antares Metals (ASX:AM5) Last week, Mark Connelly-chaired Antares launched its Phase 2 RC drilling at the Surprise copper project in the Mt Isa region of Queensland. The 1500m program will focus on untested targets identified by geophysics and beneath outcropping high-grade copper mineralised zones and is aiming to enlarge the known mineralised envelope of the project. The first phase of drilling, completed earlier this year, returned 11m at 1.8% copper and 1.3g/t gold from 68m, including 4m at 3.8% copper from 71m. The $4.1 million company has also identified rock chips grading up to 26% copper from artisanal workings. Drilling should be getting started any day now at West Cobar Metals' Fraser Range copper-gold project in WA after receiving approvals at the start of the month. The company plans to drill eight RC holes to depths of 200-300m to test three iron oxide-copper-gold and two Broken Hill-style targets. The program is being fully funded by MinRex Resources (ASX:MRR) under a farm-out option agreement signed in March. MinRex will earn 50% of the project if it sole funds $500,000 of expenditure.
News.com.au
24-04-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Resources Top 5: Visible gold at Enmore has Koonenberry riding higher still
It's five for five for Koonenberry with more visible gold in Enmore drilling Drilling is set to start next week in the quest for copper at the Pearl project in Arizona True North Copper on the way back with northwest Queensland focus Your standout small cap resources stocks for Thursday, April 24, 2025. Koonenberry Gold (ASX:KNB) Appreciating gold's price in excess of US$3300/oz and a string of highly impressive results from the Enmore project in northeast NSW, Koonenberry Gold investors have sent the price up to 7.5c, a 15.4% increase on the previous close. Reflecting the strong newsflow, since April 9 the share price has risen from 3.9c with strong daily volumes and the market cap stands at around $66m. The latest news from Enmore has seen multiple zones of visible gold intersected in the fifth diamond drill hole, making it five for five with gold also spotted in the four previous diamond holes. Enmore covers around 302km2 in the New England Fold Belt, a prospective region hosting the 1.7Moz gold-antimony Hillgrove mine, the 8Moz Ravenswood gold mine, the 7.7Moz and 0.36Mt copper Mt Morgan mine and the 2.5Moz Cracow gold mine. Despite its clear prospectivity and total endowment of +35Moz gold, the NEFB remains underexplored, particularly on the NSW side. Initial results from the first two holes in this program returned: 170m at 1.75g/t gold from 77m, including 18.3m at 9.95g/t from 172.9m; and 172.9m at 2.07g/t gold from 171m, including 25m at 5.23g/t from 195m and 5m at 11.09g/t from 213m. Koonenberry is awaiting results from the third and fourth holes and is drilling the sixth hole. The company said the latest results provided further evidence of the potential to host broad intervals of relatively shallow gold mineralisation as well as high-grade gold zones at depth. Golden Mile Resources (ASX:G88) It has been a bumpy ride for copper in 2025, including during a turbulent April amid global trade uncertainty (tariffs clouding the air of course). The changing fortunes of the US dollar have also contributed to fluctuations with recent gains. A softer dollar makes commodities cheaper for buyers using other currencies. From around US$5.32/lb on March 26, the red metal dropped to just above US$4 on April 8 but has since climbed steadily to reach US$4.97 on April 23, a 3-week high, and at the time of writing was about US$4.81. Golden Mile Resources is set to benefit from improved copper prices, encouraging market fundamentals for the electrification metal and US policies to stimulate domestic mining of critical minerals along with value-adding. The company has been as much as 37.5% higher to 1.1c after securing all exploration permits required to begin drilling next week at the Pearl copper project in Arizona with a maiden RC drilling program of 14-16 holes for up to 1800m. This will mark the first-ever drilling campaign by Golden Mile at the project with initial targets being the Odyssey and Ford prospects, both of which include historical mine workings that operated between 1915 and 1942 and are known to have produced high-grade copper. At Odyssey, the drill program will target an 800m zone of the mineralised structure which hosts three quartz veins with polymetallic mineralisation dipping between 60 and 80 degrees to the west. At Ford, drilling will target below the historical mine which was established down to about 60m. 'We are delighted to have secured all necessary permits, enabling us to advance to the maiden drilling program at the Odyssey and Ford prospects,' G88 managing director Damon Dormer said. The extended time taken to obtain approvals meant the original drilling contractor was unavailable but the company quickly pivoted, securing local contractor Resource Specialities to carry out site and drill pad preparation. This work is nearing completion and will enable Harris Drilling and Associates to mobilise on Monday, April 28, with drilling expected to begin shortly after. 'While the permitting process took longer than expected, our exploration manager has been pivotal in securing the final approvals and is currently in-country to directly oversee the execution of the program,' Dormer said. 'The Pearl copper project represents a compelling opportunity for Golden Mile, and we are excited to begin unlocking its potential through this historic first drilling campaign.' True North Copper (ASX:TNC) On the way back in the copper space after resuming trading on the ASX in January 2025 is True North Copper, which has been up to 33.33% higher to 26c on the back of a positive quarterly report. After completing a recapitalisation that included a $50.9m conditional placement and a $2.54m share purchase plan, the company was reinstated on January 14 and has since implemented a revised business strategy. This included a pause in mining and a focus on expanding the mineral inventory at the Mt Oxide and the Cloncurry copper projects in copper-rich northwest Queensland. The Cloncurry operations were placed on care and maintenance and the company is focused on growing the mineral inventory at both projects with a significant exploration budget for 2025 approved by the board. An induced polarisation geophysical survey at the Great Australia Mine (GAM) at Cloncurry identified several, additional, highly prospective targets within the extensive GAM system, from which an extensive drill program was developed. An RC drill program began at GAM in late March and is expected to yield nearly 15,000m of drilling across TNC's Cloncurry and Mt Oxide projects. GAM's drill-ready targets on existing mining leases include geophysical targets that are near-pit discovery opportunities to expand the current mine life and optimise the mine plan. The drill program at GAM is expected to be completed in April before moving to Mt Oxide. Another development outlined in the quarterly was the appointment of Paul Cronin as non-executive chairman following the resignation of Ian McAleese. Cronin joins the existing board, which also features Bevan Jones as managing director, Paul Frederiks as director, CFO and company secretary, and Tim Dudley as non-executive director. Graphite is a critical mineral due to its key use in battery anodes and Renascor Resources is advancing plans to produce the metal at the Siviour graphite mine and associated processing plant in South Australia. An important step in this strategy has been completed with the electrical distribution network serving the project and plant upgrade d. Upgrades include the installation of a new 33 kilovolt (kV) transformer and circuit breakers at SA Power Network's Cleve substation about 25km from the proposed mine – the upstream portion of the Battery Anode Material (BAM) project. Additional work includes augmentation of the overhead powerline network to increase the system capacity to 33kV, installation of new voltage regulators and a new connection point for Siviour. These upgrades are expected to permit Renascor Resources (ASX:RNU) to meet the majority of its planned Siviour phase one mine electricity requirements. 'The completion by SA Power Networks of the upgrades to the electricity distribution network is an important milestone in advancing the BAM project,' managing director David Christensen said. 'The grid connection will not only result in cost savings in power generation, but Siviour will also benefit from a lower carbon footprint, reduced maintenance costs and increased efficiency and productivity.' RNU's shovel-ready Siviour project has Australia's second-largest graphite resource of 123.6Mt at 6.9% total graphitic carbon for 8.65Mt of contained graphite and the largest reserve outside Africa at 61.8Mt at 7% TGC, or 4.3Mt contained graphite. It has a post-tax net present value of $1.5 billion and is expected to be one of the world's lowest cost projects with costs of US$405/t of graphite concentrate in the first 10 years. Pursuit Minerals (ASX:PUR) Lithium developer Pursuit Minerals has delivered a positive March quarterly report that has seen shares increase by up to 23.7% to a daily high of 4.7c. It closed at 4.3c – up 13.2%. During the quarter, Pursuit continued to advance engineering and geological workstreams, permitting approval processes and stakeholder engagement activities at its flagship Rio Grande Sur Lithium Project in the Salta province of Argentina. The company also continues to evaluate value adding acquisitions and review its asset portfolio for value creating opportunities. At Rio Grande Sur, Pursuit commissioned its 250tpa lithium carbonate pilot plant in Salta and initial production from synthetic brine has started, validating the process and marking the transition to near-term revenue generation. The company is advancing a three-stage production strategy, beginning with pilot output and targeting 15,250tpa of lithium carbonate. This phased approach allows early cashflow, de-risked scale up and capital efficient growth aligned with market demand. Feasibility studies incorporating the new resource and staged development plan remain on track for release in the current half while the company continues active discussions with offtake partners and received multiple product sample requests in the quarter. The December 2024 JORC update, boosting the Rio Grande Sur resource to 1.1Mt LCE at 505.8mg/L Li with 591,900t in the indicated category, is central to feasibility planning and pond network design. The resource update enhances the commercial viability of phased development. In response to unsolicited interest and buoyant gold prices, Pursuit is elevating strategic options for its Commando and Warrior gold projects in WA. The review aligns with Pursuit's focus on unlocking value from underutilised assets while prioritising capital allocation toward value generation.
